Five Step Customer Satisfaction Process

Ampol Consulting Roman Nowacki, partner rnowacki@ampolbiz.com

This presentation gives Ampols views on Customer Satisfaction. Customer Satisfaction is outlined in a framework of a 5 step end-to-end process. The presentation tries to address a problem that many corporations get consistently, year after year, low Customer Satisfaction scores even though year after year they aim towards improvements. Although we do not claim to comprehend all the reasons behind decline in Customer Satisfaction corporations experience in recent years, we believe a substantial increase in Customer Satisfaction could be achieved by better management of promises to customers, and better coordination of actions to improve Customer Satisfaction.

What is Customer Satisfaction?

1) What is Quality?
Quality assumes that if we determine and adopt a set of standards or measurements for our product or service, and if we meet these standards, our customers should be satisfied. However, meeting our "quality standards does not necessarily insure that our customer will declare they are satisfied or even agree that we produce a "quality" product, or deliver a quality service.

2) What is Service?
Good service is often viewed as being nice to the customer. This takes the form of being accommodating, never saying no, promising anything they ask for and always being courteous. Our attempts to please often create customer expectations that exceed our competency or capacity to deliver. When customers have different expectations than what we deliver (or can deliver), we are not providing good service, we are, in fact, setting the stage for dissatisfaction. In a similar manner, when we provide a product or service at a loss, we produce dissatisfaction for our stakeholders and ultimately can not sustain our viability. Our conventional understanding assumes that if we provide enough quality and enough service, satisfaction will result. Its not true.

What is Customer Satisfaction? Continued

3) What is Satisfaction?
Quality and service alone can not produce recurrent satisfaction. Satisfaction is a distinct and separate issue. It is the customer's entire experience with us that determines his or her declaration of satisfaction. This experience is not objective at all but totally subjective. It is the customer's call. A customer is satisfied only if and when they say they are satisfied. Satisfaction is based upon the customer's perception of the experience. This perception is his/her interpretationof the value received played back against expectations. This declaration does not require any objective evidence. It can be a declaration made with no reason. Our interactions with the customer, the promises made to the customer in these conversations, the customer's expectations generated in these conversations, and the actions we take that are consistent with those expectations combine to produce a declaration of satisfaction. Therefore it is essential we manage these aspects of our business in a proactive manner to excel at Customer Satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction Process

Customer Satisfaction Process is not: A set of Surveys A set of bridge the gaps actions in response to Customer Satisfaction Surveys Customer Satisfaction Process is: End-to-end, planned, comprehensive, coordinated, managed set of activities and interactions designed to achieve the highest possible Customer Satisfaction Actions initiated both ahead of Customer Satisfaction Surveys, and as a response to Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Customer Satisfaction Process - Five Steps

Step 1 Understanding Customer Expectations

Step 2- Promises to Customers Step 3 Execution Step 4 - Ongoing Dialog with a Customer Step 5 - Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Step 1 Understanding Customer Expectations

We must know what our customers expect from us. We must work with our customers to precisely learn their expectations Customer Expectations differ by region by country

Sample Question: How customers wants and needs, customers standards and expectations, are incorporated into our promises to customers to not only make a sale, but achieve high Customer Satisfaction (repetitive business)?

Step 2- Promises to Customers

Set promises that can be kept Aim to exceed expectations rather than to meet them Delight customers by surprising them (Surprise is something not promised, yet delivered)

Four examples of promises with respect to capability to deliver, and results

capability to deliver (capability line should move up in time) promise results results results results promise

omise

promise

ample 1

Example 2
Not meeting Customer Expectations Low Customer Satisfaction Over promising

Example 3
Exceeding Customer Expectations High Customer Satisfaction May have difficulties to keep up

Example 4
Exceeding Customer Expectations High Customer Satisfaction The Best

eting Customer Expectations dium Customer Satisfaction

Step 3 Execution

Products and Services are provided to customers Customers had certain expectations before products/services were delivered Depending if these expectations were met, not met, or exceeded customer experiences certain level of Customer Satisfaction Occasionally there are problems with products/services provided A problem can be fixed during the initial call or a visit (first contact resolution), or a ticket is opened Tickets are worked on. Customer problems are eventually solved Depending on how the Problem Resolution is handled customer experiences certain level of Customer Satisfaction

Sample Question: How ongoing work towards better Customer Satisfaction is communicated to organization (development, sales, etc)?

Step 4 - Ongoing Dialog with a Customer

Executive meetings User Group meetings Other meetings

Sample Questions: How feedback received from a customer (current Customer Satisfaction) is communicated to MSS?

Step 5 - Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Metrics

Customer Satisfaction Surveys Event Driven Surveys Internal Indicators of Customer Satisfaction Tickets Resolved Within Objectives
Tickets Overdue Resolve Time Response Time

Sample Questions: How Survey results are communicated to organization? Corrective actions? Pro-active actions?

Customer Customer Satisfaction Satisfaction Five Five Step Step Process Process

STEP 1 Understanding Customer Expectations

STEP 2 Promises to Customers

STEP 3 Execution

STEP 4 Ongoing Dialog with a Customer

STEP 5 Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Services Sales

Services Sales

Various Organizations

Executives Directors Agents

Quality

feedback, actions

feedback, actions

feedback, actions

feedback, actions

Supporting Slides

A Case for Customer Satisfaction Metrics

How does a Customer Support organization know that it provides an outstanding customer support? There are two ways to get to that conclusion. The first one is to claim it. To make a bold statement we are the best, we are great, we are outstanding. And then keep repeating it as long as it takes to believe in it. And support the claim by circulating customer praises, the evidence of great service. And do this all the time, and send it to everybody, even to your grandma. There is nothing wrong with this approach. It builds morale and it feeds on itself. Nothing wrong, with one exception. Like many times in the past, it is easy to believe in it so much, to be a fanatic in the believe, and miss that moment when some customers, and then more customers say that you are not so great any more. So there is another route to know that an organization provides an outstanding customer support. It is to measure it! What Gets Measured Becomes Important. Its where Customer Satisfaction metrics get useful.